Jobs to be done (JTBD) is another way to formulate insights. Originally named by Clayton Christensen from the Harvard Business School, JTBD provides a valuable perspective with regard to innovation. [01] The “job to be done” describes what a product helps the customer to achieve. Looking for the JTBD is a method to move away from the current solution and create a new frame of reference for a different future solution. The JTBD framework includes a social, a functional, and an emotional dimension.

Sometimes an additional starting line can be added when you have at least two distinct jobs for the same situation: “As … (persona/role), when …” However, JTBD is mostly used without a persona or role. Clayton Christensen explains the jobs-to-be-done framework with his classic milkshake example: [02] he investigates the question “Why are half of all milkshakes at a fast food brand sold before 8 a.m.?” Based on iterative ethnographic research (short observations and interviews), the research team realized that customers were trying to accomplish a very specific job and this is why they “hired a milkshake.” Clayton formulates the job story somewhat like this: “When I am commuting to work by car, I want to eat something that I can get quickly and that doesn’t distract me from driving, so that I can work until lunch without feeling hungry.”

The reason customers buy a milkshake instead of a banana, a doughnut, a bagel, a chocolate bar, or a coffee is because they need something easy to eat that will keep them full until lunch. In this example, from a customer’s perspective, competitors are not other fast food chains, but rather alternatives that would do a similar job for them, like a smoothie, for example.

A JTBD insight based on this framework is quite similar to a key insight – the main difference is that a key insight focuses on the restriction/friction/problem, whereas a JTBD focuses more on the larger picture of the situational context and motivation. One of the key advantages of the JTBD approach is that it helps a design team break away from a current solution in order to discover new solutions based on what customers really want to achieve.

Duration

0.5–4 hours (depending on complexity and amount of data)

Physical requirements

Research wall or any other form of accessible research data, ­personas, journey maps, system maps, paper, pens, masking tape

Energy level

Low

Researchers/Facilitators

Minimum 1 (a better approach is to have teams of 2–3 researchers)

Participants

2–12 with good knowledge of the research data (optional)

Expected output

Job-to-be-done insights

JTBD integrated as an ­additional lane in a journey map.

JTBD integrated as an ­additional lane in a journey map.

JTBD integrated as an ­additional lane in a journey map.

JTBD integrated as an ­additional lane in a journey map.

Step-by-step guide

‍Prepare and print out data JTBD insights can be created iteratively together with data collection or they can be used to move from research into ideation. They are also useful to find gaps in your research data and to formulate further research questions, hypotheses, or assumptions. Use your research wall or prepare your research data by printing out key pictures, writing out great quotes, visualizing audio recordings or videos as quotes or screenshots, and putting out your collected artifacts. Prepare the room with materials, such as paper, sticky notes, pens, and of course your research data, as well as existing personas, journey maps, or system maps. Also, think about who you should invite to develop JTBD insights.

Write down initial JTBD insights Go through your research data and write down initial JTBD insights based on your research findings or patterns you find within your data. If you work in teams, split up into subgroups of 2–3 participants and write initial JTBD sentences. In this first step, it is important to create many potential jobs; in the following step, you’ll merge them and prioritize them to create a limited number of jobs.

Cluster, merge, and prioritize Hang up your jobs on a wall and cluster similar ones next to each other. You can merge similar jobs or rephrase them to make clear that they are different. Then try to prioritize them, for example, from a customer’s perspective: which of these have the biggest impact on the customer?

Link JTBD insights to data JTBD insights should always be based on research data. Link your JTBD insights to your research data (e.g., by using an indexing system). When you present them it helps if you add some of your research data to back them. If possible, prefer first-level constructs as evidences for your JTBD insights, such as photos, videos, or quotes from real people.

Find gaps and iterate Are you missing some data for your JTBD insights? Use these gaps as research questions and iterate your research to fill the gaps with data. Also, consider inviting real customers or employees to review your insights and to give feedback on them.

Follow-up Document your progress with photos and write a summary of your JTBD insights. Support each JTBD insight with at least 2–3 pieces of evidence from your research data. If you have more, use an indexing system to link your insights to all the underlying data.

Method notes

‍JTBD can be formulated for an entire physical/digital product or service as well as for certain steps within a journey map, if you ask yourself what a customer or user wants to get done. As such, JTBD can be either the main aim behind a journey map or an additional lane in a journey map, focusing on the JTBD for each step.

Mapping JTBD for each step in a journey map can reveal steps that do not have a JTBD, which means customers have to do activities only for the service provider and not because they want to get something done. Eliminating such steps in a journey might lead to an improved experience when a provider focuses on the essentials.